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Denzel Valentine Wins AP Player Of The Year Over Buddy Hield

By William Gomez
Published on: 12:34 PST, Mar 31, 2016

Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine has been selected as the Associated Press’ Player of the Year, according to ESPN.

The MSU senior guard beat out Oklahoma Sooner stand-out Buddy Hield (apparently by just three votes) who many claim has been deserving of the National Player of the Year award with the performance he’s been putting on in the NCAA tournament and his strong play during the regular season, but it was Valentine who came away with the AP’s vote.

“We spent time together this summer at a basketball camp, and we built a relationship,” Valentine mentioned of fellow senior POY finalist, Buddy Hield.

“During the season we would give each other words of encouragement,” Valentine said. “He was first person to text me when I got hurt, and I thought that was pretty big time of him. He deserves everything he’s getting.”

Much was expected from Valentine and the Spartans during this year’s men’s NCAA tournament, with many believing they would be the team to face the heavily-favored Kansas Jayhawks in Houston, but the Tom Izzo-led Spartans were upset in the first round by a tough Middle Tennessee team that punched the Spartans in the mouth early and never let up.

Valentine had a game to forget in the disappointing loss, scoring only 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting.

“The last two weeks have been tough and it’s hard to duck the tournament. It’s wherever you go,” said Valentine, the first Michigan State player to win the award. “You go into a restaurant and a game’s on. You just can’t duck it.”

The senior guard led the Spartans to a (29-6) regular season record and a second-place finish in the Big Ten conference. Valentine was also named the conference player of the year, averaging 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 7.6 assist per game.

Meanwhile, runner-up Hield led the Sooners to a 29-7 regular season record and a third-place finish in the Big 12 conference, while averaging 25.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game.

While Hield averaged a higher point total, Valentine proved to be a better all-around player for his team, which was what won him the majority of the AP’s vote, which was conducted prior to the start of this year’s NCAA tournament.

Kansas head coach Bill Self was selected as the AP’s Coach of the Year, winning the award over Xavier’s Chris Mack.

His Kansas Jayhawks were the No. 1 overall seed in this year’s tournament, but like Michigan State, failed to meet everyone’s expectation when they were knocked out of the tournament last week by the Villanova Wildcats.

During the press conference both Self and Valentine admitted that they would willingly give up their awards for a chance to be playing at this weekend’s Final Four.

Hield is currently averaging 29 points per game on 56.7 percent shooting in the tourney and will be leading his Oklahoma Sooners to their first Final Four appearance since 2002.

His play has been so good that many critics and fans have begun to compare his scoring ability and tourney run to that of reigning NBA champ and MVP, Stephen Curry.

[AP Photo/David J. Phillip]

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